Thursday, March 19, 2015

Calgary-based emerging fashion and art talents organizationPromoting Artists Redefining Kulture (PARK) is ready to set off another year of PARKSHOW, a fashion showcase of young promises of tomorrow in the Canadian fashion industry.

The 8th installment of PARKSHOW will be held on May 23rd 2015. It is perhaps one of the organization's most interesting and ambitious project where the fashion show will occur at the underground parking facility of one of Calgary's largest retail shopping mall, the Chinook Centre.

As the city is located in the inland of the prairies, the PARK team is determined to bring an oceanic experience to their audience. The North P2 Parkade will be transformed into an interactive space inspired by the natural beauty of the coast, and accompanied by ocean-theme art installation by local artist Jennie Vallis.

"Each year our talent, production and guest experience improves and we are grateful for the interest PARK continues to receive at a local, Western Canadian and now national level." said Kara Chomistek, the president of PARK. "We are especially thankful to our returning title sponsor, Chinook Centre, for allowing us to flex our creativity in the amazing blank canvas that is their underground parkade. We cannot wait to show you what we are creating!"

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Bella 2015 was successfully held last night in downtown Holt Renfrew in Calgary. The reinstallment of this high profile charity fashion show was a collaborative project of Calgary Health Trust and Holt Renfrew Calgary. Over 60 models and 120 looks graced the maze-like runway, with pieces from Prada, Marni, Dolce & Gabbana, rag & bone, Gucci, KENZO and many more, we all got a glimpse of what's "trendy" this season at Holt Renfrew. It was beyond my expectation to see the entire luxury department store was transformed into a dynamic 'fashion walk', and I was amazed with the length of the runway - My eyes followed the models as they circled through the main level of the store, then up the escalator to the second level where they made a tour, and then came back down to the main level via the escalator. The escalator idea reminded me Vuitton's SS13 show, if some of you could recall.

Over 700 community leaders and passionate supporters across the city attended Bella. Proceeds generated from ticket sales and auction items were all donated to the "Neonatal Intensive Care Unit” (NICU) at Foothills
Medical Centre to support their only in-born Level III Tertiary
Care Unit in southern Alberta. Specifically, the money could also benefit the following medical equipments in Foothills Hospital's NICU:

Calgary Health Trust will need your continue support so that they can continue to provide the best medical health and wellness services for all of us here in Calgary, you can help make a difference by making generous donations to the organization HERE.

**Update** The Bella 2015 charity fashion show had raised more than $500,000 for the NICU! Congratulations!

Do the things you love with passion; Learn from those you admire; Strife to become an expert at what you do xx - Binzento Vincente: A Fashion & Lifestyle Blog

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

My team and I have recently started to remodel our company Vinegar Designs lab Inc. into a full scale advertising and marketing firm, a one-stop-shop for brand consulting, web development as well as providing exclusive media products and tools. We are all very excited that our firm has grown into a commercial platform working with companies in various business sectors. This however doesn't truncate our artistic mindsets, as we still passionately enjoy the process of creating, whether is photography, films or art, making the full use of our brains' right hemisphere.

In the recent news of American multi-brand J.Crew's first flagship store opening in France, located in the Marais district in Paris at 12 Rue Malher, I felt inspired to do a test shoot with my Vinegar Lab. The brand's basic and versatile styles with intricate accessories for pairing allow anyone's imagination to pull off looks that best represent their personalities. This sort of vibe is often experienced in Asian markets such as Hong Kong and Japan, where J.Crew has already raised its flags in those cities.

The creative was to utilize some of the basic pieces of J.Crew and transpire them into the "Parisian style" - Like imagining if I was a Parisian, how will I dress with J.Crew. The theme was more or less a lifestyle piece, with a hint of French-inspired docu-film approach and adding that casualness of street style. I loved the looks of our model for this test shoot, Scott M. from Royals Management. He has the natural persona that speaks European, though he's born and raised in Canada.

Our Vinegar Lab's photographer Paul M. Lee has captured the essence of the "Parisian J.Crew lifestyle", styled by me and completed with Jack Lee's graphic design. In a sense, there is also that Euro-influence Japanese flare, which is highly recognized in editorials in Japan.

It won't be until we visit the Paris J.Crew, then we'll find out how our Parisian friends will style themselves with the collection. The Rue Malher J.Crew location will carry a carefully edited selection of J.Crew's Women's designs including limited-edition pieces from the J.Crew Collection in the most special fabrics and prints, Italian cashmere, jewelry, a dedicated shoe area and items from J.Crew's In Good Company partnerships - a collection of brand collaborations, hand-selected by the design team; including Birkenstock, Lulu Frost, New Balance, Point Sur, Ray Ban and Thomas Mason. There will also be a collaboration with Lacoste on their iconic polo shirt featuring a vintage crocodile logo, exclusive to J.Crew.

To celebrate the opening, J.Crew has created a capsule collection of one-of-a kind Saint James shirts available exclusively at the Rue Malher location. Each shirt is hand embellished by our designers using feathers, crystals and studs. J.Crew has also partnered with Swarovski to design a limited series of individual appliques including French phrases and motifs such as “Pardon My French” and the Eiffel Tower that can be adhered to Saint James shirts and other select merchandise.

LINES
STRATEGY: Group of Creative Families in an Interior(all photos by Nunzia Garoffolo, edited by Binzento)

An interior space that is defined by lines of imagination, which are manifested by a family of creative minds - "LINES STRATEGY: Group of Creative Families In An Interior" was an exhibition recently held during at the Palazzo Visconti during Milan Fashion Week. This exhibition was a collaborative project by 5 VIE ART + DESIGN and my dear friend Nunzia Garoffolo, the brainchild behind Fashion Beyond Fashion.

Focused on the current ideas on the move, LINES STRATEGY revealed shapes and volume of architectures, lifestyle and sartoralism that depict contemporary Italian designs in its most genuine
and vibrant way. Showcasing designers include some of the most celebrated talents and young promises includingSvetlana Schmidt, Matteo Thiela, Giulia Marani, Move Cappelli, Olga Pong, Anna Porcu, Bea Bongiasca, SH-Jewels by Stephan Hamel, Mia D’ Arco, Susana Traçaand Arnoldo Battois.These creators together brought a wider scope to the audience of insiders, neophytes and enthusiasts
to discover and feel inspired by the many-sided Italian elegance.

I personally admire the theme of this event, where all art and creatives are interconnected despite differences in people's ideals and disciplines. Art and designs are one of the ways people communicate without barriers and discrimination - An execution of thoughts that sometimes cannot be explained simply by language and text. Thank you Garoffolo for sharing this wonderful event.

"Do the things you love with passion; Learn from those you admire; Strife to become an expert at what you do"Binzento Vincente: A Fashion & Lifestyle Blog